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Hailey Hartford gets a better understanding of the hardships America faced during the Great Depression as Lydia Ceballos reads over the Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
ELGIN – Recent students of Crystal Edwards’ third grade class dove headlong into an era in history that exemplified the strength and perseverance of the American spirit.
After World War I, the Roaring Twenties’ Big Band sounds resonated from phonographs and radios across the nation. But eventually, America would suffer a stock market crash, The Great Depression, The Dust Bowl, and a become entangled in a second world war. In the aftermath, the United States would emerge as a global leader.
While Edwards was teaching students about America from the 1920s to 1945, many questions arose, she said. Utilizing a grant from the Oklahoma State Department of Education, the Elgin schoolteacher was able to purchase a class set of “Who/What Was” books specific to the time frame.
After reading the books, the class had a better understanding of antebellum life in the United States as well as the atrocities of WWII. Students learned about concentration camps, Pearl Harbor, the Manhattan Project, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and what initiatives were undertaken to rebuild and repair international relations after WWII.
The age-appropriate books “are an excellently written series to capture children’s attention of the past and encourages them to want to learn more about our history,” said Edwards.
With interests piqued, the class reported on their studies. What transpired was a 3,500-word summary that illustrates the challenges and triumphs of the Greatest Generation.
The report, “Our Learning from 1920-1945,” was written by Piper Berry, Olivia Bostic, Allena Boyd, Baron Biddy, Kaydi Carter, Lydia Ceballos, Nathan Chaney, Rowan Cooper, Ace Dupler, Hawke Findlay, Kaedence Genesse, Carter Hightower, Vanessa Jackson, Isaiah Laona, Finley Melvin, Kaison Ortega, Daniela Rodriguez, Yaneli Romo, Regan Spores, and Issac Toledo; edited by Mason Elolf and Hailey Hartford.
Recognizing and commending the students’ hard work, Edwards said, “Writing is not an easy thing to learn or be interested in in our ever-changing technology-driven world. But, once the students started seeing what they were capable of, they became more and more driven to get their own thoughts on each subject in writing. One at a time as they persevered; it gave others encouragement as well.
“The amount of effort they gave surpasses anything I could have expected in order to get this paper written. By writing this in the last few weeks of school really shows me they learned these topics and they learned how to work together.”